Newsletter #3 - March 2010

CONTENTS: Vanilla Caramel Latte Treat Yourself Coffee of the Month: Guatemalan Coffee Terms Make Something with Chocolate & Coffee

Vanilla Caramel Latte This delicious latte is our most popular drink! It has the perfect balance of sweetness and espresso flavors. With real, creamy caramel, sweet vanilla flavor and our signature espresso, it has all the elements you need to start your day off or enjoy a quick break from your day. Treat yourself to one of our delicious Vanilla Caramel Lattes today. $1 off Good through 3/4/10 - must present coupon to receive offer. Coffee of the Month: Guatemalan The highlands of Guatemala produce several of the world's finest and most distinctive coffees. The mountain basin surrounding the beautiful colonial city of Antigua, Guatemala produces the most distinguished of these highland coffees: Guatemala Antigua (pronounced an-tee-gwa), a coffee that combines complex nuance (smoke, spice, flowers, occasionally chocolate) with acidity ranging from gently bright to austerely powerful. Other Guatemala coffees, perhaps because they are more exposed to wet ocean weather than the mountain-protected Antigua basin, tend to display slightly softer, but equally complex nuanced profiles. This would include Guatemalan Huehuetenango (pronounced hway-hway-ten-ongo) from the Caribbean-facing slopes of the central mountain range. There are many excellent Guatemalan estates. Small-holder coffees predominate in Huehuetenango. The highest grade of Guatemala coffee is Strictly Hard Bean (SHB). The regionally designated coffees (Antigua, Huehuetenango, etc) are tasted and approved as meeting flavor profile criteria established for these regions by ANACAFE, the Guatemalan coffee association. Those coffees that do not meet regional flavor profile criteria are only allowed to be sold as Strictly Hard Bean without regional designation. Generally, Guatemala has preserved more of the traditional typica and bourbon varieties of arabica coffee plants than many other Latin American growing countries, which may account for the generally superior complexity of the Guatemalan cup. Most Guatemalan coffee is grown in shade, ranging from rigorously managed shade on large farms to the serendipitous thickets of small growers. At Great Lakes you can almost always find a freshly roasted bag of Guatemalan Antigua or Guatemalan Huehuetenango (our 2 favorite Guatemalans) for your home brewing pleasure or look for us to be serving it as a house or dark roast.  Coffee Terms Spicy-The aroma of sweet spices such as cloves, cinnamon, and allspice. The term "spicy" when describing coffee does not include the aroma of savory spices such as pepper, oregano, and curry. Make Something with Chocolate & Coffee Mocha Cheesecake Bars Ingredients: 30 chocolate sandwich cookies (Oreos) 1/4 cup bottled hot fudge topping, not heated 1 envelope unflavored gelatin 1/2 cup cold strong Great Lakes coffee 2 bricks (8oz each) cream cheese, regular or low fat, softened (Neufchatel) 3/4 cup sugar 1 cup (8oz) sour cream, regular or low fat 3oz bittersweet chocolate, melted Garnish: Great Lakes chocolate-covered coffee beans PREPARATION 1. You'll need a 13 x 9-in. baking pan lined with nonstick foil to extend about 2 in. above narrow ends of pan. 2. Crust: Pulse cookies in food processor until fine crumbs. Add fudge topping to crumbs; pulse to moisten. Press firmly in prepared pan. Freeze while proceeding. 3. Sprinkle gelatin over coffee in a small saucepan; let stand 2 minutes. Stir over low heat until steaming and granules dissolve. Remove from heat. 4. Beat cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl with mixer on high speed until smooth. On low speed, beat in sour cream, the coffee mixture and chocolate until blended. Pour into crust, cover and refrigerate 4 hours or until firm. 5. Lift foil by ends onto cutting board. Cut crosswise into 8 strips, then each strip into 6 bars. Add Garnish on top. Enjoy!

Great Lakes Chocolate & Coffee Co. ® is now offering franchises, for further information contact us at contactus@greatlakeschocolate.comor to contact us for general inquiries click here.